


Little Lion Heart

by Fearharte



Category: Final Fantasy VIII
Genre: Cat, Cursed, Cute, Fluff, M/M
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-09
Updated: 2021-02-09
Packaged: 2021-03-14 16:47:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,317
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29299116
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fearharte/pseuds/Fearharte
Summary: He was a cat. Not a Moomba. Not a lion.A house cat.Literally, a house cat, running for his fucking nine lives as some punkass little shits chased him around Garden's quad.
Relationships: Seifer Almasy/Squall Leonhart
Comments: 7
Kudos: 39





	Little Lion Heart

**Author's Note:**

> Look, how Squall got to be a cat is not going to be a major plot point or mystery. We don't really care how it happened, do we? No lol. 
> 
> This will likely be two parts~
> 
> Disclaimer: I own a cat and a head full of ~~fluff~~ ideas and not much else.

He was a cat. Not a Moomba. Not a lion. 

A house cat.

Literally, a house cat, running for his  _ fucking nine lives _ as some punkass little shits chased him around Garden's quad.

"Get the monster!" One of them screamed, swinging a practice sword that was meant to bruise the opponent and would definitely kill a cat. 

When Squall turned normal again, he was going to expel all three of these bastards for animal abuse. 

For now, though, he needed to survive. He zipped under the stage Selphie had already started setting up for this year's Garden Festival and jumped over a flower bed only to skid to a hissing stop when a too-familiar pair of boots stepped in front of him and a large gloved hand snagged him by the scruff of his neck. He yowled as loud as he could, spitting and swatting at Seifer's arm to no avail since his trench coat protected him.

"What the fuck do you three think you're doing?" Seifer barked, raising his voice with a very clear threat. The three kids tripped to a stop as well and tried to backpedal.

"Mr. Almasy!" The leader yelped, dropping his sword. "We were just exterminating a monster?"

"This is a fucking cat!" Seifer snapped. Squall hissed as Seifer's other arm scooped under him, bracing and restraining him at the same time, preventing him from jumping away no matter how hard he kicked. Seifer's voice was like an earthquake in Squall's bones as he continued his scolding. "Are you a psychopath? You don't fucking kill animals!"

"B-But-!" The brave little leader tried, wincing when Seifer interrupted him.

"Get to Trepe's office and report in for what you were doing. If she doesn't expel your ass, I'll make sure you're on probation at the very least. Now get the fuck out of my sight."

The three cadets bolted before Seifer could decide to escort them to Trepe himself. He glanced around the squad with a scowl, then glared down at the cat still bundled in his arms, clicking his tongue.

The little guy was freaked the fuck out, panting hard and shaking. He was a dark gray tabby with white fur around his chest and collar, down his nose, and on each of his feet. Seifer loosened his hold on his scruff but kept a firm hand on him. He murmured low and soft, "Shh, it's okay, buddy, I've got you."

The cat in his arms stilled briefly and looked up at him, spooked, revealing gray eyes. Seifer smiled at him, then pulled back just in time to avoid the claws swiped at his face. He chuckled wryly. "I don't need another scar, thanks."

Tucking the cat against his chest, he glanced around the quad again. It was a quiet time of the day and the group of students studying in the corner didn't pay him any attention. He turned away and headed straight for his SeeD dorm, hoping to Hyne none of Squall's besties ran into him on the way.

Squall was having trouble breathing. He couldn't move against Seifer's steel bands of arms. He couldn't get away. Seifer's reassurances were barely registering in his pointy ears because panic was causing a roaring sound in his head. He was a cat. Fuck, he was a cat?! He was a cat! Hewasacat! 

When did this goddamn spell even get invented?? He had heard of the Frog transformation spell before. Or Toad maybe. But that was so fucking archaic and impossible to draw anywhere, no one had seen it in decades. And it was possible this Cat transformation spell was some sort of limit break, but he had been fighting Galbadian scouts during a routine recon mission that didn't even call for a partner, for fucks sake. Since when did Galbadia get mages of this caliber? Even Quistis couldn't turn people into cats.

And Squall  _ was a cat! _

Before he could spiral into another wave of panic, Seifer set him down and Squall froze. Seifer's arms were bad but being thrown back into the wilds was worse. This was his second day as a cat and it had rained the night before, slowing down his trek back to Garden. He didn't want to go back to that…

Except…the wilds didn't have tile floors. A quick look around and he realized he was in Seifer's room - ship blueprint posters on the walls, a gunblade case on the coffee table, a casual jacket on the kitchenette table chair. 

Squall glanced up at Seifer as the door closed behind them. Their eyes locked and before the blonde could move, Squall darted under the living room sofa.

Safe. Unless, of course, if the spell wore off now, then he was squashed and had a lot of embarrassment to swallow down. But since the spell didn't wear off last night, he suspected it wasn't going to any time soon.

"Alright, you make yourself comfy. You're safe now. But don't piss in here, I'll need to go buy you a litter box," Seifer started rambling. Squall flattened his ears, then shook his head roughly to get rid of the weird feeling that movement gave him. His ears were so sensitive and twitchy. "First though," Seifer continued, "I bet you're hungry."

Squall perked up at that. He was starving. He had managed to tackle a bite bug out of the air last night before it started raining, but he quickly decided there was no way in hell he was going to eat it.

"How about some nice canned Tuna?" Seifer asked. The electric motor of a can opener started whirring and Squall belly crawled to the edge of the couch, looking out. Seifer glanced over and smirked at him, causing Squall to pull back a little.

"Hey, buddy, you can come out," Seifer said sweetly, and Squall felt his ears droop, insecure. He'd never heard Seifer talk like that before, not in all their years, and he felt a strange twist of jealousy over a cat. Who was himself. He was jealous of his cat self. How pathetic.

The smell of tuna immediately distracted him from that train of thought, his nose so much sharper than when he was a human. He flicked his tail in a moment of angst, watching Seifer set a plate on the floor stacked with a fat pile of shredded tuna. Then Seifer sat on the ground next to the plate, hooking his arms around his bent knees and grasping his wrist, appearing as non-threatening as he was capable. 

Squall sighed. This situation was less than ideal but it was less than awful, too. Of all the people who could have picked him up, he was relieved his SeeD partner of the last five years was the one to find him. It was embarrassing enough to make Squall want to literally die, but Seifer had proven himself to be a good man since the end of the last sorceress war. He had come back to Garden on a trial period after it was determined he had had enough of Ultimecia's magic in his mind to clear him of full guilt. And while both he and Squall knew that was bullshit, had talked about it one night when on patrol and Seifer seemed to have a moment of confessional need, Squall wasn't convinced Seifer hadn't been brainwashed in other ways, and not  _ just _ by Ultimecia. Garden had made Seifer believe the worst of himself, too. Squall couldn't make excuses for him, but he could understand him. He could give him another chance. 

And that chance he took on Seifer had saved Squall's life at least a dozen times over since he signed off on his well-earned SeeD paperwork. They partnered on almost every mission in recent years, and while Squall didn't spend much time in Seifer's room, he had been in here often enough to feel at ease.

Slowly Squall crept out from under the couch, eyes locked on Seifer's grin. He couldn't explain why he felt so timid. Seifer clearly wasn't going to hurt him. He was never one to hurt animals - even the dog he had swung at in Dollet, he hadn't actually touched or hurt, just scared him off from a battlefield. 

Squall approached the plate, eyeing Seifer warily. He was fucking huge from this perspective. He was taller than Squall still when Squall was a human, but right now, Seifer was a giant.

"Hey, baby," Seifer murmured and Squall was horrified to realize he started purring in response. What the actual fuck? Did turning into a cat also turn him into a moron?

He jumped a little when Seifer's hand moved toward him, but didn't back away, and when his warm palm cupped the top of his head, Squall fucking melted. It felt so good. He pressed into the touch and rubbed his forehead into Seifer's hand, purring even louder, pushing rational thought aside as relief poured through him. Thank Hyne, thank fucking Hyne. Seifer would take care of him until he got back to normal. A little meowing cry escaped him and Seifer stroked his hand down his whole back, compelling Squall to arch up into his hand. Before he realized what he was doing, he was clambering into Seifer's lap, meowing in relieved desperation, wordless pleas for help.

"Hey, hey, it's okay, you're okay," Seifer soothed, gathering the cat up in his arms to hug him to his chest. It was a small cat, less than ten pounds, but it seemed to be an adult, and Seifer felt a wave of protectiveness over the little guy. He didn't act feral, but it seemed he had been lonely for a while. Seifer leaned back against a kitchen cabinet and stroked down the cat's back as it head-butted his chin. "Look at you, you're a big softy, aren't you? You were just scared when you tried to permanently blind me before, weren't you?"

The cat purred louder as if in agreement and Seifer settled in for a little cuddle session since it didn't seem his new buddy was going to let him escape now. 

"I don't think Garden allows pets, so quiet down, okay? Knowing my luck, that dumbass Zell is going to hear your meowing when he walks by and then the whole damn team is going to crowd in here to pet you and Squall will say I have to get rid of you." Seifer leaned back a little and scratched the cat under the chin. "What am I going to name you, huh?"

Squall meowed at him. It sounded nothing like "if you name me something stupid, I will blind you after all," and the way Seifer laughed definitely made it clear his point did not get across.

"Mittens? Wait, are you a boy or a girl?" 

Squall's brain did not register that question fast enough and a second later he was lifted from under his arms, his tummy and kitty-parts on display. He yowled in indignation and Seifer quickly set him down. 

"Yes, sir, calm down," Seifer said dismissively. He nudged the plate of tuna. "Here's my apology, go ahead and eat."

Squall glared at him, his ears flat, then hissed for good measure, pissed when Seifer just laughed. He grumbled around another warning meow and turned to his tuna to finally eat.

Fuck, though, that was a  _ strong _ fishy taste. His sense of taste must have increased with his sense of smell. He was pretty sure he could taste the whole goddamn ocean and the metal can the tuna was packed in. He pulled back and glared at the food, then glared at Seifer who raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"You don't like it? All cats like tuna."

Squall sat down and continued to stare at him.  _ Feed me something else, you bastard… _

"Hyne, you're too picky for a stray. You must be someone's pet, huh?"

Seifer sighed and stood up, but left the plate.

"Well sorry, I don't have cat food yet, so you gotta eat that for now. I'll go into town and get you some nice stuff, though."

Squall wrapped his tail around his feet and kept glaring at Seifer as the GIANT walked around to check his computer and pick up a few things. When he walked past him, Squall crouched low and hissed again.

"Mhm," Seifer said dismissively, his tone pleasant. "That has no effect on me, just to let you know. My partner's mood is way grumpier than yours. And he doesn't cuddle at all."

It was a good thing cats couldn't blush. The combo of Seifer calling him his partner and talking about cuddling was almost too much. He was tempted to go back under the couch. 

"Be good while I'm gone, I'll be back soon. Don't scratch shit up and don't pee anywhere, okay?"

Squall glared at him and Seifer huffed a laugh, then headed out.

Sighing a little kitty sigh, Squall returned to the plate and ate as quickly as he could so he could get past the flavor, too hungry to be picky after all. When he was finished, it really didn't taste that bad after all, and he spent a moment swiping his paw across his face to make sure none of it stuck to his whiskers. Finally feeling content, he looked around and decided to go exploring.

\--

Squall jumped awake when Seifer came back, startled by the sound of plastic bags and banging. He was curled up on Seifer's bed, cuddling up against the slope of one of his pillows. He hunched his shoulders a little, realizing where he was and  _ what _ he was with a weird mixture of relief and dread, respectively.

He hadn't meant to fall asleep on Seifer's bed, but after getting bored opening every kitchen cupboard he could reach without getting on the counter (he was an animal, but he wasn't an  _ animal) _ and pulling open Seifer's lower dresser drawers, which were just full of his jeans, he decided he was too tired to go much further than that. He didn't find any porno magazines like he expected, which was surprising. Human Squall would never even go looking, of course, but cat Squall couldn't pass up the opportunity. Seifer would do the same to him, anyway. Under the bed was the last place he bothered to check, then he eyed the top of the bed, debating with himself for a full ten minutes before giving in and jumping up. 

Now, his eyes opened wide at the barrage of noise and his hair stood up along his spine when Seifer came into view of the bedroom door, carrying way too much shit for a cat that better not exist in a week.

Seifer glanced around his suite, then smirked when he saw the cat on his bed, curled up in a little agitated ball of reluctant trust.

He set the bags on the kitchen counter, then did a double take at all the open cupboards. "What the fuck?"

He glanced over and lifted an eyebrow at the cat. "You have fun while I was gone?"

The cat yawned wide and lowered his head on his paws, watching him darkly. Seifer chuckled, muttering, "What a grumpy little thing." He went around closing all the cupboards, then returned to his bags to start pulling out supplies.

First things first, he pulled out the small litter box and a bag of litter, then set it up behind the couch. He went and picked up the cat, smiling at the sleepy noise of protest, and set him down in the cat sand, then burst out laughing at the appalled look the cat shot at him. 

"You know what a litter box is? Don't pee outside this thing or Garden's going to kill me. They've already tried to do that enough in my life."

The cat gingerly picked his way to the edge of the box, stepping out like this was the most offensive thing he had ever experienced.

_ I am  _ not _ shitting in a sandbox _ , Squall wished he could snarl at Seifer. Seifer walked away from him like he wasn't the cause of his current misery. 

"Check this out," Seifer said from the counter a moment later, then a red laser dot appeared in front of Squall's paws, wiggling wildly. Squall stared at it, then slowly looked up to stare at Seifer. Seifer frowned. "Can you not see it?"

The laser shot back and forth in front of Squall and he flattened his ears in boredom.

"Alright, we'll try toys later. You're probably still pretty freaked out," Seifer conceded, putting the laser away. He set a variety of fake mice, fish, and birds on the counter, tossing a couple down just to see if Squall would go for them. He did not.

Which Squall felt a little bad about. Seifer seemed kind of disappointed. But he was  _ not _ going to run around chasing fake mice like an idiot.

Besides, he was still tired. How much did cats need to sleep? He felt exhausted.

Cat food appeared next, then finally, a collar. Squall cocked his head curiously at the little red strip, then reared back on horror when he heard it. A  _ jingle. _

No way, no fucking way. No way was he wearing a bell! He'd go insane. He'd commit kitty suicide. No no no no-

"Meowack!" Squall squaked as Seifer laughed and scooped him up with one hand before he could run away.

"You're kind of a spaz, huh? Maybe I should think of a different name for you, but I'm pretty sure Squall would warm up to you faster if I called you Griever." Seifer slid the collar over his head and scratched behind his ear in a way that made Squall turn into pudding. Hyne, why did that feel so fucking good? "You like that name? Griever? Yeah, you're a good boy, aren't you?"

Squall hissed at him, but the meaning was drowned out by his ridiculous purring. 

Seifer set him down and Squall tried to push the collar off his head, scrunching up and attempting to back out of it while shoving it forward. Seifer laughed again, completely dismissive of Squall's agony as he went to sit on the couch and flick on the TV. And the little bell jingled wildly as Squall fought.

A few moments later, he gave up, feeling a bit wrung out. His cat body did not have the same endurance as his human body. He glared at Seifer viciously, panting and grumbling. 

"Maybe you could give Squall a run for his money after all with those glares," Seifer chuckled. "But you're so tiny, you gotta wear the bell or I'll step on you. Splat."

Squall watched him for a long moment, sullen, and Seifer lifted an eyebrow, looking back at him calmly. Then he lifted one hand and beckoned him closer, just like on the training field, and Squall couldn't stop himself from getting up and moving closer. He never could resist that gesture.

He gauged the distance from the ground to the couch before making a graceful leap. At least his tiny cat body was cooperative and he wasn't one of those oafs that face-planted when they tried to jump. Selphie had shown him enough cat videos on the internet for him to start to believe "survival of the fittest" was a mercy. 

He gingerly made his way over to Seifer, still sulky but also reluctantly interested in getting more pets. He couldn't reach that spot right between his shoulder blades and he-

Seifer scratched the exact spot and Squall rubbed into his thigh, tucking against him and getting comfortable. Being a cat clearly meant losing all common sense and pride. That was the only excuse for why he couldn't control this damn purring or stop cuddling his damn partner who was so damn warm and comfortable...

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you so much for reading and thank you twice if you leave a comment or a kudos! I love seeing people enjoy my stories~~ ❤


End file.
